


Allopreening

by Fauxstales



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Wings, Established Relationship, M/M, nothin but fluff, preening, self indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:14:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23018389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fauxstales/pseuds/Fauxstales
Summary: “You look horrible.”Riku took in the unfortunate collection of feathers and down that was his boyfriend who’d just entered their shared bedroom at the Training rookery. Sora had been off on another mission assigned by Yen Sid to take out a stray faction of heartless that had settled in Deep Jungle and terrorizing the locals.Ever since Riku had become a Master, they’d spent more time apart from one another than either of them liked, but when the fate of the world was at stake, personal feelings had to be set aside.“Gee thanks.”Sora chirped back, fluttering his wings a bit to allow himself space to crash face-first on the bed. Even from his writing desk on the opposite side room Riku could see each individual vane of Sora’s primary coverts sticking every which way, making his own feathers stand on end. He couldn’t take it anymore.He pushed his chair back, crossing over to the love seat closer to the bed and plopped down assertively, patting his lap.“Rest later; it’s preening time.”
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 122





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> @kohkohkrispies on Twitter requested a fic based on their amazing Winged AU (which can be found here: https://twitter.com/kohkohkrispies/status/1200117373845544964?s=20 and here (warning this one is a little more graphic): https://twitter.com/kohkohkrispies/status/1176700774568615937?s=20 among other places and you should definitely check out!)
> 
> So for about two hours I was possessed by the fluffy bird demon and we have this self-indulgent fluffy bird preening fic for all your birb-nerds out there. 
> 
> A few extra notes:  
> -This fic involves a behavior done by birds known as "Allopreening" which typically mated birds to to help with courtship but it can also be a nice bonding activity or a way to connect with another individual. In the fic, there are terms used that may take some explanation to understand what's happening:  
> -Riku has wings that are based on a Leucistic raven, so instead of being black, he's white/opalescent: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucism
> 
> -Terms that involve parts of the wing are here: https://images.app.goo.gl/btVtZD2cB2j4HSSAA 
> 
> -Terms for parts of a feather here: https://images.app.goo.gl/fNxJwfHJPcR1MkSr6 
> 
> -A good example of Allopreening can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrjmJBtGbMc 
> 
> -Birds have "preening glands" which secrete oils that help put the feathers back into place and keep them clean. They run their beaks over it before spreading it over their feathers to keep them healthy (feathers are basically just modified keratin-the same stuff hair is made out of!)
> 
> If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask, but otherwise enjoy the fic! Sorry about the mini biology lesson :P 
> 
> ~Faux

“You look horrible.”

Riku took in the unfortunate collection of feathers and down that was his boyfriend who’d just entered their shared bedroom at the Training rookery. Sora had been off on another mission assigned by Yen Sid to take out a stray faction of heartless that had settled in Deep Jungle and terrorizing the locals.

Ever since Riku had become a Master, they’d spent more time apart from one another than either of them liked, but when the fate of the world was at stake, personal feelings had to be set aside.

“Gee thanks.”

Sora chirped back, fluttering his wings a bit to allow himself space to crash face-first on the bed. Even from his writing desk on the opposite side room Riku could see each individual vane of Sora’s primary feathers sticking every which way, making his own stand on end. He couldn’t take it anymore.

He pushed his chair back, crossing over to the love seat closer to the bed and plopped down assertively, patting his lap.

“Rest later; it’s preening time.”

Sora laboriously shifted his head to land a pair of squinty eyes on his leucistic partner, face still half-squished to the comforter, and pouted.

“Rikuuuuuu... I can do to myself.”

“And you’ll do a poor job of it too—Now come on. Complaining time is later also. I’m not going to dinner with a boyfriend looking like that.”

At the use of the term ‘boyfriend’, something that was still rather new to both of them, Sora pushed himself up off the bed and onto his elbows. Riku sat expectantly, patting his lap once again now that he had Sora’s full attention.

With a sigh that was reminiscent of the air sloooowly being let out of a balloon, Sora slogged over to Riku and slumped down in his lap, turning his back to allow his boyfriend to perform the ritual properly.

As soon as he started, Riku could feel Sora’s feathers begin to quiver with the insatiable urge to shuffle themselves back into place. He put a strong hand on his head to stop him.

“Relax.”

He soothed, running his fingers through Sora’s spikey hair-Even his preening skills would never be enough to tame that mess. However, the motion seemed to work, and Sora’s feathers soon settled until his wings became limp in Riku’s arms.

Riku ruffled Sora’s hair fondly before returning to his work, deft practiced hands tracing the smooth maroon edges to slip the barbules into proper order. He moved methodically down to the base of the quill to the preening gland near his scapulars to cover those already set back in place and continued until Sora’s right wing was finished and looking much more presentable.

He paused to check on Sora; his eyes were closed, his expression calm, and amidst the even quiet breaths he thought he could hear a quiet kind of cooing.

“Hey sleepyhead, you still awake?”

“Mmmm...”

Was his only response.

Riku let out a soft laugh and turned his attention to the other wing. Wielding his keyblade the way he did, Sora was always more reckless on his left side, often forgetting to shield it when an attack came his way. Riku could see the evidence of this in the fine charred edges of some of his secondary feathers poking out between the disheveled coverts. He let his palm come to rest over the spot and breathed out a subtle “cura” spell, the green glow reflecting off of Sora’s bright plumage.

This finally warranted a response from Sora, who blinked himself awake rapidly from his hazy state.  
“You need to be more careful,” Riku cautioned, his gaze meeting Sora’s as the boy bashfully averted his eyes.

“Sorry. Guess I just got carried away.” Sora smiled sheepishly, the downy feathers underneath fluffing up, embarrassed. Though there were a lot of advantages to having wings, this was certainly one of the cons: hiding your emotions the wings betrayed was something neither of them had mastered since they’d first sprouted. A blessing and a curse really, because Sora looked adorable all poofy like he was.

“Uh-huh. But I’m sure it’ll never happen again, right?”

“Not as long as you’re with me, Riku!”

It was Riku’s turn to be flustered, but he simply relaxed his shoulders and let his large wings encircle Sora’s small body protectively. The iridescent shimmer of his pearly feathers contrasted the deep rich browns of his companion, but not in an unpleasant way. He thought the darker hues were quite handsome and Sora had told him several times before that he’d been struck how well Riku’s matched the silver gleam of his hair.

Being so lost in thought as he was, he barely noticed when Sora began stroking his thumb across the outer flight feathers that were crossed in front of Sora’s chest. His hands were rough, callused from years for wielding the keyblade to banish the darkness, but there was a gentleness to them. A low hum reverberated through Riku’s body, clinging tighter to Sora until he pressed his face into his neck.  
Riku felt Sora stiffen at first, but soon melted into the touch while absentmindedly teasing his fingers about his primary covert afterfeathers.

“I thought I was preening you,” Riku mumbled into his shoulder, the pleasing sound of Sora’s giggle filling his ears.

“Allopreening helps ‘strengthen our bonds’, remember? That’s what Aqua said. I’m just trying to listen to my teacher.” Sora smirked and turned his head to rub his nose against Riku’s cheek.

Riku’s face grew warm but he couldn’t help the goofy smile that crept onto his lips.

“Glad to see you finally doing something you were taught.”

Sora shot him a sour expression and took advantage of their closeness to press his lips to Riku’s cheek, blowing a loud raspberry, catching his prey completely off guard.

Riku jolted, his wings spreading wide to either side out of sync with one another. Unable to right himself in time, he slung his arms around Sora’s shoulders and dragged him down to the floor with him, the two flopping over in a mess of feathers and limbs.

“S-SORA-!!” He shouted indignantly but it was drowned out by Sora’s bubbly laughter.

Two could play at that game, he thought, and before Sora could free himself from Riku’s tight grip, he tickled him in retaliation.

“Riku-!! Stooop-!!”

But he wasn’t about to let him get away after such a slight and, before long, any sign of Riku’s hard work preening Sora’s wings had been lost. Eventually Sora gave in and let Riku bask in his small victory, though it lasted only a moment as his proud demeanor gradually morphed into exasperation.

“Now look at you,” Riku remarked, sitting up from their tussling match to tsk and shake his head at the unfortunate state of them both.

“Whoops~,” Sora mused, lifting up one wing and then the other to examine them, “Guess we’ll have to start over, huh?” He didn’t even bother hiding his ear to ear grin.

Reluctantly Riku sighed and reposition himself to make a proper seat, Sora scooting over with his wings outstretched ready to begin the ritual anew.

Needless to say, they were going to be late for dinner.


	2. Birds of a Feather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This isn't so much of a "new chapter" as it is in the Saga of Winged AU prompts that Bri wants me to write which I'm sure there will be more of XD
> 
> This is set to tune of KH1 when Sora meets Riku again in Traverse town...But with wings?? It's honestly just the cut scene written out with a bit more of a Soriku flavor
> 
> Did I mention they have wings?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like the one before it, @kohkohkrispies on Twitter requested a fic based on their amazing Winged AU (which can be found here: https://twitter.com/kohkohkrispies/status/1200117373845544964?s=20 and here (warning this one is a little more graphic): https://twitter.com/kohkohkrispies/status/1176700774568615937?s=20 among other places and you should definitely check out!)

Four worlds. He’d already visited FOUR worlds! Back on Destiny Islands, he admittedly wasn’t sure how far the tiny raft might have taken them. He figured that maybe they’d see a few dolphins or something before getting stuck on a nearby sandbar, have their lunch of seagull eggs and fish before deciding it was a silly idea, laughing and joking while they rowed their way back to the play island. 

It had been Riku’s idea in the first place. The raft, that is. But Riku was Sora’s best friend, and he obviously was really excited about it, so how could he say no? If it were him, he probably would have been content to stay with them on the islands forever. Racing on the beach, collecting seashells for Kairi to make her charms with, laying on the shore at the end of the day....

“Sora?”

The young boy blinked up at the sound of his name, shaking away the visions of his daydream just before the Gummi Ship shook violently at a bit of turbulence from the tail of a comet that streaked by the windows of the cockpit. He clutched his seat tightly to keep himself from falling over, his wings stretching out to maintain his balance. 

Wings. Four worlds-He’d been to four worlds now with these wings and he still wasn’t used to them. The excruciating pain they had caused him when they first appeared seemed so distant now, though it couldn’t have been more than a few weeks since they’d sprouted. He’d been told by Leon that they were made for speed; slender in shape, spotted with deep browns and splashed with an eye-catching red that accented his outfit. Still, despite how “lovely” they were, they didn’t feel a part of him. Awkwardly he tucked them back behind him before looking in the direction of the speaker from before, spying Goofy just a chair away eyeing him with concern. 

He responded with his typical wide grin, which seemed to be enough to satisfy the captain of the guard he was fine, eventually transforming into a smug smirk in Donald’s direction. He was seated stubbornly in the pilot seat, feathers on the back of his neck fluffing up a bit in response to Sora’s stare though he didn’t bother turning around. 

“Don’t say it.”

Donald retorted through a clenched bill, his garbled speech barely intelligible coupled with his low, aggravated tone. 

The mage had insisted HE fly the ship after the nearly half a dozen times Sora had barrel-rolled them into an asteroid belt. Now the shoe was on the other foot! Or, er, flipper? Webbed foot? Come to think of it, he didn’t remember ever seeing Donald wear shoes…

“Looks like flying isn’t as easy as you think it is, huh?” Sora teased, rubbing under his nose in triumph. 

“You’d certainly know-Since you can’t fly the ship _or_ with those fancy wings of yours.” 

Donald bit back, causing Sora’s confidence to immediately vanish, looking casting down to the cold steel flooring. 

Four worlds and he _still_ didn’t know how to fly. 

\----------------

They had decided to go back to Traverse Town, once again, to restock and explore. After all their world hopping, Sora was sure that they’d gained some new abilities he wanted to try out and eventually brag about to Leon and the others. They still had yet to restore the world and seal off the keyhole like he had Deep Jungle, Wonderland and the others. Plus it would be nice to sleep in a nice soft bed again instead of camping out on the ground in the middle of a forest. 

Donald, surprisingly, stuck the landing and they disembarked in the first district. After taking some time to replenish their supplies (and watching Donald oogle over a number of new weapons the moogles had crafted) they made their way to the Third district. The emptiness of the streets was almost unsettling to Sora now. Fighting hoards of heartless at nearly every turn had made the lack of battle disorienting. The weight of the keyblade in his hand had become second nature: swinging it with impressive force into the bodies of the smaller shadows causing them to disappear instantly now. 

Right on cue, the darkness seeped from somewhere beneath the concrete, twisting from amorphous blobs into their recognizable shape. Their eyes were stunning gold against a pitchblack curtain, clawed hands and antennae twitching uncontrollably. The clink of armor hit his ears simultaneously as a number of soldiers materialized as well. Sora could feel his downy feathers begin to ruffle involuntarily with excitement. He gripped his keyblade tighter. Beside him, Donald and Goofy went into action, spinning and casting offensive spells in the direction of the outermost enemies.

Just as he raised his arms to lift his weapon and strike, a dark shape cast an imposing shadow overhead. In a flash, wings that mirrored the iridescent sheen of the midnight sky fluttered across his field of view and landed in front of the trio. The newcomer's movements were so fast that Sora could barely keep up, streaks of yellow mixing with waves of purple haze that floated up from the defeated bodies of the heartless. When the wisps cleared, the flurry of motion finally stilled and took shape. 

Their “savior” had his back turned to the trio who were still affixed to their spots in mild shock. Dark wings like that of a raven stuck out at what must have been a six foot wingspan-quite a bit larger than Sora’s own-standing out against the somewhat abrasive yellow of the figure’s shirt. Silver hair, slightly unkempt, settled against his shoulders until suddenly giving way to brilliant aquamarine when the young man turned towards them. 

Realization dawned on Sora’s face and his keyblade subconsciously vanished. 

“There you are! What’s going on?” the boy raised his brows, still clutching his saber at his side. His wings settled themselves at his sides, the sheen off the feathers was bright and multicolored from all the fluorescent lighting in the square.

Sora wasted no time as he closed the distance between himself and the “stranger”, having lost all sense of anything else around him. 

“Riku!!” 

He called while stretching out his hands to take hold of either side of his best friend’s mouth. 

Riku blinked down in surprise but didn’t try to resist, as if the presence of Sora’s thumbs had been an inevitability. 

“I’m not dreaming this time, right??”

After a few tugs, however, Riku raised his hand and playfully knocked Sora’s away. 

“Hey! Cut that out--I think you’re supposed to pinch your _own_ cheeks if you think you’re dreaming. Besides, it took forever to find you and this is the thanks I get?”

Though the words were heated, his tone remained soft, as it always did when he talked to Sora, and the young keyblade hero couldn’t keep his smile from spreading ear to ear. 

“Riku!”

The boy only sighed, his feathers ruffling a bit as he turned his head to the side, unable to keep his eyes on Sora’s face...for some reason. Wait-Riku had wings too! Did that mean he was a wielder also? Sora shifted his gaze to Riku’s hand which still held the intricately designed saber. While it did look _really_ cool, it wasn’t a keyblade. Why then…?

“Nice wings, Sora.” 

Riku’s compliment broke his train of questioning, prompting Sora to puff up his feathers and stick out his chest proudly in response. 

“Ya think so?? I mean,” he cleared his throat, flicking out his wings one at a time to admire the marbled patterns of brown and white, “yeah, they’re pretty cool, aren’t they?”

“Looks like they’d be pretty fast.”

“Heh heh, really?”

Sora placed his hands behind his head, kicking at the ground in mock embarrassment until he caught Riku’s mischievous gaze. Something clicked in Sora’s mind once he realized what Riku was about to suggest.

“How about a race? Just like back at the beach?”

At first, Sora put his foot down, pumping his fist to the sky eagerly until Riku quietly added,

“But this time, we fly.”

“A...A flying race?”

Sora wasn’t hiding his anxiousness from anyone. 

“Come on, Sora-Just because I beat you at every single race back on the islands doesn’t mean I can’t also beat you in the air too.”

“Hey! Take that back! I beat you lotsa times!”

Riku smirked, placing his left hand on his hip, spreading his wings out wide in an obviously challenging display.

“Prove it then.”

“I-I SO would! I don’t feel like right now, that’s all! Just got back from battling a bunch of heartless and saving a few worlds with Donald and--”

“Hey Sora! Is this one-’o yer friends you’ve been lookin’ for?”

Sora finally tore his attention away from Riku to that of his other companions, who until now had remained with weapons drawn on the defensive. Goofy approached first, putting his shield behind him to extend a gloved hand out to his childhood friend. 

“The name’s Goofy! I’m the captain of the guard to King Mickey--and this here’s Donald, the king’s mage. It’s nice to meet ya--?” 

The hand hovered there for a number of seconds as Riku stared down at it. His eyes narrowed, moving between the hand and Sora before returning to their neutral expression. 

“New friends of yours, Sora?” Riku asked, a tinge of suspicion in his inquiry. His arms remained tightly folded against his chest. 

“Oh yeah! Donald and Goofy are working for the king and were told to follow _me_ around because I’m--”

“Sora’s the keyblade master!” Goofy interjected, unable to contain his excitement, clutching either side of Sora’s shoulders and giving him a sturdy shake. 

“Oh really?” Riku answered, raising a brow while Sora rubbed the back of his head, wings shuffling nervously in a sort of uncoordinated fashion. 

“Riku! You have wings too--Does that mean you’ve got a keyblade?” Sora asked, reaching out his hand to touch one of the longer flight feathers that extended beyond his silhouette. 

Riku snatched it away reflexively, a faint hint of red coloring his cheeks, or maybe it was just the lights of the square again. 

“No keyblade here. Guess I was too busy looking for you and Kairi instead of running around with my new friends exploring other worlds.” 

The venom in his tone struck Sora unexpectedly, his eyebrows knitting together. 

“Kairi….Did you find her?!” Sora shot back with some insistence. 

“I thought she was you this whole time, “ Riku retorted, his voice low, watching the hope drain from Sora’s features. “Well don’t worry, I’m sure she’s fine.” 

Riku walked a few feet away from them, turning away to look up at the sky, black wings unfolding out to either side. 

“We’re all finally free! Who knows, she might even be looking for us now? We’ll all be together again soon.”

He rolled his shoulders back, crossing his arms once more. 

“You just stick with me from here on out.” He stood taller, flexing his primaries, “Leave everything to me and I’ll protect you both! I know this place like the back of my--” 

While Riku had been busy making his announcement, a shadow that had apparently been spared from the original group slinked up from the floor behind him. Just as it was reaching its spindly fingers to grasp at Riku’s leg, Sora instinctively summoned his keyblade and shot forward, dispatching the creature. Sora remained in his battle stance for just a moment too long, hoping Riku would catch his skillful save. Indeed when Riku looked back towards him, his expression twisted in what Sora could only assume was astonishment. 

“You’ll protect _who?”_ Sora offered, twirling his keyblade up to rest against his right shoulder, flexing his wings identical to how Riku had been doing earlier. 

His friend turned his body to face him fully now, his stance somber as he remained silent. 

“I _have_ been looking for you and Kairi while I was running around those other worlds! But I’ve also been sealing up the keyholes to keep the heartless out.” 

“He’s a true, blue, hero of the Keyblade!” Goofy chimed in, laughing in that strange combination of hiccups and chuckles Sora had grown oddly accustomed to. 

“Keyblade _master_!” Donald quickly corrected, tapping his webbed foot against the marbled streets impatiently. “And we’ve got more important things to do instead of standing around watching you show off!” 

Sora’s wings flipped up of their own accord, going on the defensive. 

“I wasn’t-!”

Sora started, his cheeks growing hot for reasons he didn’t quite understand. Just then, a wonderful idea came to him. 

“Hey! Riku, why don’t you come with us??”

The silver-haired youth looked taken aback, wings responding with a subtle twitch. 

“What? Sora I-”

“Yeah!! We’ve got this _awesome_ spaceship! It’s way cooler than that dinky raft we had back on the islands! We go flying all around the stars and visit other worlds. You’d love it! He can come, right guys??”

Sora, so excited about his genius plan, didn’t notice Donald’s sour expression until he was nose-to-bill with his hot-tempered friend. 

“No way. We were told by the king to help the Keyblade hero--Not the Keyblade hero and all his little friends. Besides, the ship is cramped enough as it is and I don’t know if I can deal with another whiny teenager constantly complaining and needing bathroom breaks every five minutes.” 

“It’s not every five minutes!! And Riku’s not like me! He’s cool! Riku-” 

As Sora gestured to where his friend had been just moments before, to his surprise, he was met with an empty space. Startled, he looked around frantically. He’d only _just_ found him again! After all this time! Where did he-!

“Didn’t mean to get between you and your new best friends, _Sora._ ” 

He heard Riku’s voice call from directly above them. Riku hovered about 10 feet up, wings working effortlessly to keep him aloft, as if he’d trained with them for years. Sora’s mind went back to his own wings. He hadn’t even managed gliding successfully yet. Why did Riku have to be better at everything?? 

“Good luck with saving the world then. If you feel like looking for Kairi again, come and find me.” 

“Riku! Wait!” 

But no sooner had the words left Sora’s mouth than the lithe shape of his friend vanished over the cobbled rooftops and into the night. He stretched his wings out to their full extent, leaping upwards to give chase, flapping frantically, only to find himself back on the ground again moments later with a resounding ‘THUD’. He continued to gaze after Riku, tears stinging behind his eyes. 

“ _Riku_ …”

He felt a solid hand on his shoulder and turned to Goofy who was making his best effort to keep a smile on his face. 

“Don’t worry, Sora. You found him once, I’m sure you’ll see him again soon.” 

Sora gathered his wings closer to his body protectively, hugging his knees in as well. _New best friends?_ He didn’t need a new best friend, he still had his _old_ one...Right? Oh well, there wasn’t any time to worry about that now. He had a job to do. 

He let out a quiet sigh as he unfurled his wings and responded with a small nod. 

“Yeah….At least I know he’s safe. That’s what matters, right?”

Just like that, Sora’s cheery disposition had returned, rubbing his finger under his nose again for good measure. 

“Come on, we still gotta try out those new moves we learned!” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for your love and support!!
> 
> By the way, Bri (@kohkohkrispies) did a beautiful drawing of the boys from the fic ;3; Please check it out!! 
> 
> https://twitter.com/kohkohkrispies/status/1247863355379003392?s=20


End file.
